Time to Move On: 2PM’s Without U

After all 2PM has gone through in the last couple of months, the now 6-member group has made their comeback stage with their 3rd single album Don’t Stop Can’t Stop and has made first place on real-time charts with the song “Without U“.

2PM has gone through a lot- from leadja Jaebeom leaving Korea due to some comments on his MySpace, to the termination of his contract in February due to something else more serious that he had done wrong during the Again and Again promotions, to certain Hottests who took it upon themselves to blame fellow bandmates for the leadja’s terminated contract.

Needless to say, this comeback was highly anticipated.

The song “Without U” is about a man who after being hurt by the lies and betrayal of the woman he loves, decides that it’s time for him to stand up again and move on.

Although the dark concept is something we’ve seen a lot in K-pop recently, 2PM is able to utilize it in a different way- using the piano in the beginning (water + piano = badddd) to create a somber mood as the man (or men, in this case) thinks about how he had given his everything to a woman who just threw it all away and to see nothing but various shades of black and gray as opposed to seeing it all in bright colors.

I am happy to hear an improvement in each member’s vocals- they’ve truly matured, each in their own ways. Nichkhun’s rap, in particular, was quite a surprise- it meshed well with the rest of the song, proving that he can switch it up and do more than just sing.

And Opus’ pet peeve, auto tuning? Non-existent- which really gives a chance for the members’ vocals to shine, instead of depending on a computer to help them along.

But of course, I have my complaints. The choreography, although good, seems a little too JYP-like for me. For those of you who have seen JYP’s MV “No Love No More“, you should know what I mean. The steps and moves seem a little too familiar to me- that and the dance for the chorus feels really out of place for a song like this. Especially the ‘OK’ signs- I don’t know about you, but that made me cringe every time I saw it.

Another thing would be turning from a piano/hiphop-like tune to dance music. In my opinion, I feel that the song should’ve followed the tune as it was in the beginning and stayed in the genre of R&B as the song title would make you believe, but I digress- the song’s growing on me already.

And although I love Taecyeon and all- maybe not yanking off your shirt should be an option for the next MV. It’s nice to see his chocolate abs, but it really gets old after a while.

How would this song rank on my list? Probably a 3.5/5. It’s not spectacular, but it’s a good start to their comeback.

And on a side note, even though I, as a Hottest, miss Jaebeom terribly and wish for his return, it’s time for all of us to stand up and move on. Yes, we have a right to be angry and upset about what happened in the end, but what’s happened has happened. Now, it’s time for us to look forward to 2PM’s future and continue supporting them until the end.

So 2PM fighting! We’ll be anticipating their live version of “Without U”, so until then!